James Franco Is Young Santa in Cut ‘SNL’ Hallmark Christmas Sketch

The bizarre subculture of dime-store Christmas movies seems oddly pervasive this year, and has not gone unnoticed at SNL. The “Not Ready for Primetime Players” have at least one more gift in the form of a cut short, featuring host James Franco in an endless stream of indistinguishable Hallmark Channel classics.

SNL released its newest cut sketch from the penultimate 2017 episode, as Hallmark blasts its viewers with twenty-one Christmas movies through the entirety of December. Franco only appears in two (that we know of) as Canadian actor “Chris Bearstick,” who may or may not be building a cinematic universe as “Young” and/or “Prince Santa.”

Whatever the recent obsession with forgettable Christmas movies, the short nails some of the – no pun intended – hallmarks of the genre, including “a once-famous, now very Christian actress,” the “sets we used multiple times” and a “black co-worker with no backstory.” Of course, we couldn’t forget “that guy from Desperate Housewives,” either.

We may yet see more cut SNL sketches before the year is out, but Season 43 will otherwise resume on January 13 with Sam Rockwell hosting and Halsey as musical guest. Stay tuned for the latest in the meantime.